WINNER WATSON REVEALS BANANA TRAUMA

Heather Watson was so nervous before facing Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round at Wimbledon that her jaw locked trying to eat a banana.

But the British number one had no reason to worry as she powered into round two with a 6-3 6-2 victory to set up a clash with ninth seed Angelique Kerber.

Watson has been on a great run of form and arrived at the All England Club fresh from reaching the semi-finals in Eastbourne.

"I have had a good run, and coming to Wimbledon with confidence I really wanted to make the most of it," said the 22-year-old, ranked 60th in the world.

"So I was a bit nervous going on to court. I struggle to eat before I go on, and actually my jaw was locking and I couldn't even bite through my banana.

"But it was good. Once I got on court, I got moving. I made sure I moved my feet a lot in the warm-up to get going, and as soon as we started playing, I got into it.

"I always get nervous before I go on, sometimes more than others, this being one of them. But it's becoming normal now, so I just get used to it."

Watson also has trouble sleeping before big matches, particularly since last year's struggles with glandular fever, and it was the same again on Monday night.

"I woke up at 4am and I was ready to go," she said. "I actually managed to get back to sleep, which was good, and then woke up again at 7am. I gave myself 11, 12 hours to sleep, just because I knew I'd probably wake up.

"But that's becoming normal. It doesn't matter. My fitness coach asked me how I slept. I told her, and she said, 'Yeah, I'd actually be worried if you said you slept good'."

Tomljanovic, 21, showed her talent in beating Agnieszka Radwanska on her way to the fourth round of the French Open and produced plenty of big hitting on Court Three.

But Watson has committed to an aggressive game under Argentinian coach Diego Veronelli and actually hit one more winner than her opponent, forcing Tomljanovic to go for too much with her all-round high level of play.

The first set could easily have gone the other way, with Watson taking her only break point in the second game while saving all four that she faced.

But in the second the 22-year-old pulled away, winning five games in a row from 1-0 behind before clinching victory on her first match point with a big serve.

"It's a very tough match," said Watson, who has jumped 100 places in the rankings since February.

Tomljanovic has also rocketed up, with Watson saying: "She's climbed the rankings very quickly after being out of tennis with glandular fever as well, and it was tough. She hits a hard, heavy ball, and has a big serve.

"A lot of those games, I didn't even get close. But the games I did I took advantage."

Watson was the third British player through to the second round after Andy Murray and Naomi Broady.

Broady was certainly the most surprising of the trio with her victory over Timea Babos and Watson was delighted for her friend.

"She was probably the first tennis player I did know when I started playing, and our families are very close," said Watson.

"I probably call her one of my best friends on the tennis circuit. I didn't get to see too much (of her match). I was so happy when I saw she won. She really deserves it."